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miércoles, 23 de abril de 2014

Daylight Factor calculation in courtyards

I recently published a very simple method to determine Daylight Factors within a courtyard. Daylight Factors determines the potential of natural light which reaches the center of the courtyard, to the corner or to the midpoint of the facade.

The development of this method is shown in the following article, published in Solar Energy. We are currently working in two papers more to determine the accuracy of this method, although the results are promising.

To calculate the Daylight Factors, you only need to introduce the dimensions of the courtyard (length, width and height) as well as the reflectance values of the inner surfaces.

The proper Daylight Factor depends on the location of the courtyard and the lighting requirements. Usually, the minimum Daylight Factor to reach a minimum illuminance of 250 lux is shown in the following table: